Carlo Ancelotti laid bare the tension which has gripped Chelsea when he
insisted that the new assistant first-team coach, Michael Emenalo, would
not, in fact, be allowed to coach the first team.

At the same time, Ancelotti pointedly said that now was "not the right moment" to say whether he was happy with Ray Wilkins being replaced by Emenalo, who was chosen by club owner Roman Abramovich.

Clearly feeling undermined by what happened to his former assistant last week, Ancelotti was not of a mind to discuss the extraordinary circumstances of Emenalo's appointment.

"I am not here to explain how I feel at this moment because it is not the right moment,'' he said. ''I'm professional. I will continue to work. I want to stay focused on my team.

"The club made this decision after the decision on Ray. But nothing has changed, for me. Emenalo has been working with me before. He started when I came here last year.

"He was the opposition scout and was supporting me. He's not been involved in the training, and won't be, because Paul Clement (first-team coach) has been and will remain doing that. But nothing changes. It was not my decision, but he is working with me for a year and a half anyway."

The dismissal of Wilkins as Ancelotti's assistant has caused a far greater upset than could have been imagined and could, ultimately, lead to the manager's own departure – a development that would reverberate around football.

He is believed to be extremely uncomfortable with recent events and the atmosphere at the club's Cobham training ground in Surrey has deteriorated. Whether it can be repaired remains to be seen.

Ancelotti was dismissive of the suggestion that Emenalo – whose experience of coaching is limited – would work with the first-team.

"He won't be involved in the training sessions," he reiterated. Ancelotti will not allow that, although where else but Chelsea would an assistant be removed and a successor appointed, but not by the manager?

Emenalo will sit on the bench for Saturday's league match at Birmingham City, although not next to Ancelotti. The 45 year-old Nigerian was brought in three years ago by Avram Grant, who still talks to Abramovich, and is a likeable figure but lacking the necessary experience for his new post.

Indeed his appointment is similar to the way in which Grant himself arrived at Stamford Bridge. And that, ultimately, saw Jose Mourinho, leave.

Quite why Wilkins – whom Ancelotti inherited and who he quickly grew to like and admire, despite having wanted to bring in his own coaches from Italy – was dismissed remains a complete mystery even to those at the core of Chelsea.

The Chelsea stalwart launched a staunch defence of Ancelotti after last season's Champions League exit to Inter Milan, telling Abramovich there was still much to play for.

If that was the reason, the billionaire would surely have acted immediately. Instead, the bombshell came months later and damaged a carefully-nurtured system.

Having found the perfect combination to run the club, Chelsea may now have created the perfect storm.

They have the beautiful winning football demanded by Abramovich, the emergence of exciting young players, the revival of flagging careers and the synergy between a top-class manager, in Ancelotti, and technical director, Frank Arnesen.

After years of aggravation, politicking and crises, it appeared that Chelsea had found an unprecedented sense of calmness.

They sit two points clear in the Premier League, have won all four Champions League matches, are scoring goals and have created the fabled identity craved by Abramovich who, last season, was given an unprecedented league and FA Cup double and more than 100 goals.

All that in Ancelotti's first campaign and with a squad that, under his predecessor, Luiz Felipe Scolari, appeared to be too old, too jaded and ready to be broken up. It's understood at that time, for example, that Didier Drogba was offered to Manchester City for £12 million.

Chelsea are even verging on being popular. They are seeing the fruit of five years of work with the elevation of players from the club's academy into the first-team squad, talents such as 17-year-old Josh McEachran, who genuinely excites Ancelotti, and Gaël Kakuta.

Ancelotti has bought into the ethos of the club, the development of youth, the desire for attacking football, because it represents his own beliefs; beliefs which had, perhaps, become somewhat stifled at AC Milan. He has also, crucially, forged a close working bond with Arnesen, who recruited him.

In Ancelotti and Arnesen, whose contract is up at the end of this season and who is understood to be considering his own future, the club has found the right partners at its helm.

The two men work extremely closely and share the Abramovich's vision. Under Mourinho, the owner wanted winning football, which he got, for a while, but it wasn't attractive enough to justify the millions of pounds pumped into the first-team.

Arnesen arrived from Tottenham Hotspur – with £5 million in compensation being paid – in 2005 with the task of creating an academy and a world-class scouting network.

He assiduously did this, recruiting 35 scouts who were all native to the country they were based in and understood its football and culture.

They were brought to Chelsea four times a year to be coached in the way the teams played – a 4-3-3 formation based on the Ajax model, from under-12s to the reserves. In addition, Arnesen was charged with producing one first-team player a year, to be ready by 2010-11.

It was clearly difficult from the start because Chelsea had so many first-team players and, in truth, the youngsters coming through were not good enough. Mourinho had not shown a great deal of interest. But things have changed and players are finally emerging while Chelsea baulk at the suggestions they have wasted millions.

They have spent about £30 million, with £20 million recouped. For example, Miroslav Stoch was signed for £400,000 but sold to Fenerbahce for £5 million. Franco Di Santo cost £1.7 million but was moved to Wigan Athletic for £4 million.

Of the young players in the first-team squad now it's believed Jeffrey Bruma and Patrick Van Aanholt each cost just £200,000 while Fabio Borini and Jacopo Sala each cost £100,000. By contrast, Arsenal paid more than £6 million for Denilson.

Ancelotti spent months, under Arnesen's guidance, examining the youth team players available and then agreed to a bold decision. Chelsea, at the end of last season, chose to move on five big-earning older players: Michael Ballack, Joe Cole, Deco, Ricardo Carvalho and Juliano Belletti.

It shrunk the squad but created room for the younger ones to move up. It has been thought this was purely a cost-cutting measure, but it was also philosophical.

Fewer players means they play more and are happier and easier to manage. Ancelotti wants multifunctional players – his ideal is Branislav Ivanovic or Michael Essien – who can play in a number of positions. Working with Arnesen and Bruno Demichelis, whom the manager brought with him from Milan as the head of medical science, he developed a 'five-ring strategy'.

The rings are – technical and tactical, physical, medical, mental and lifestyle. Each player is examined in each area and a programme is tailored to help him.

At the same time, every player has used Demichelis's so-called 'Mind Room', which helps with their mental training, while Ancelotti has also concentrated on the 'recovery' of players after matches.

A system was devised to go alongside the 'load' monitoring during training. Chelsea even have a system to check how many times players touch the ball with each foot during training.

It was a world away from the monotonous regularity of Scolari's regime. The interim period, when Guus Hiddink was in charge, had accelerated change.

Arnesen was given a new title and moved offices from the academy. He is now in the same corridor as the manager.

There was a palpable change in the squad. The likes of Drogba became more settled, while Ancelotti was adamant that although he will, within the next two years, need a marquee striker, aged 25-26, he was well-covered in his squad with leaders and strong characters all over the pitch. Ivanovic and Essien symbolise the future.

He has worked miracles so far and although he still has the same squad, albeit a year older and pared down, he is believed to be confident that, when fit, they will win trophies this season while he bloods the youngsters.

Such is his belief, shared by Arnesen. Whether Ancelotti will be there beyond this campaign remains to be seen. The question is: how long can he tolerate what has happened?